The King's Speech
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Feb 25, 2011
Oct 8, 2010
Eat, Pray, Love - a movie review
The movie's based on the book which is based on the true story of Elizabeth Gilbert’s search for happiness/enlightenment as she travels to Italy, India and Bali to find whatever's-missing-from-her-life (?). I couldn't understand the leading lady's dilemmas. -spoiler alert- She had love, kicked love. Found love again, kicked love again. Found love once AGAIN and kicked love again almost. Wha-?
Julia Roberts and her cute co-stars did a decent job of trying to make the movie interesting, but it was unmoving and ridiculously long: almost two and a half hours! There was something fake about the entire so-called quest.
After the first hour I kept repeating in my head "thank goodness I didn't pay any money to see this".
Even so, I DID enjoy the film's amazing cinematography and the beautiful sights of Rome, India and Bali. And thankfully there were plenty of those lovely shots.
No thumbs up for Eat, Pray, Love.
On the other hand, Daughter#2 who accompanied me to the preview, liked the film. The silver lining is that we were together for a much needed and luckily inexpensive outing on a Saturday afternoon.
Mar 2, 2010
Shutter Island (no spoilers here, honest)
Just came back from the movies where Husband and I saw "Shutter Island". A mesmerizing mind bender by Martin Scorsese. A film noir and political allegory with captivating performances, particularly Leonardo DiCaprio's. Riveting.
Leonardo's baby face constantly dupes me into believing that he won't be able to pull off a role and am forever and happily surprised by his excellent acting.
Two thumbs up for Shutter Island.
Leonardo's baby face constantly dupes me into believing that he won't be able to pull off a role and am forever and happily surprised by his excellent acting.
Aug 29, 2009
Upcoming wanna-see movies
Over at my tumblr blog (I know I've been sleeping over there a lot lately) I've added these 3 movie trailers of upcoming films I hope to see:
Amreeka
Amreeka chronicles the adventures of Muna, a single mother who leaves the West Bank with Fadi, her teenage son, with dreams of an exciting future in the promised land of small town Illinois. In America, as her son navigates high school hallways the way he used to move through military checkpoints, the indomitable Muna scrambles together a new life cooking up falafel burgers as well as hamburgers at the local White Castle. >> continued on official movie site
The Men Who Stare At Goats
In this quirky dark comedy inspired by a real life story you will hardly believe is actually true, astonishing revelations about a top-secret wing of the U.S. military come to light when a reporter encounters an enigmatic Special Forces operator on a mind-boggling mission. >>continued here
The Boat That Rocked
In the late 1960s, American radio stations blasted rock and roll 24 hours a day. But in the home country of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones the only way 25 million people could hear their music was to tune into.. a boat. >>official movie site
Amreeka
Amreeka chronicles the adventures of Muna, a single mother who leaves the West Bank with Fadi, her teenage son, with dreams of an exciting future in the promised land of small town Illinois. In America, as her son navigates high school hallways the way he used to move through military checkpoints, the indomitable Muna scrambles together a new life cooking up falafel burgers as well as hamburgers at the local White Castle. >> continued on official movie siteThe Men Who Stare At Goats
In this quirky dark comedy inspired by a real life story you will hardly believe is actually true, astonishing revelations about a top-secret wing of the U.S. military come to light when a reporter encounters an enigmatic Special Forces operator on a mind-boggling mission. >>continued hereThe Boat That Rocked
In the late 1960s, American radio stations blasted rock and roll 24 hours a day. But in the home country of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones the only way 25 million people could hear their music was to tune into.. a boat. >>official movie site
The Cake Eaters
Because of the Twilight series hype, this film "The Cake Eaters" luckily has been spotlighted. There are some very fine performances and a wonderful soundtrack. Get the synopsis from the movie's official site as well as Ebert's review.
Aug 18, 2009
The Secret Life Of Bees
One of the movies I watched this summer was "The Secret Life Of Bees", based on the novel by Sue Monk Kidd. It is a heartwarming movie about girl-power, sisterhood and civil rights. It is not a great movie but certainly not a bad one. I liked Queen Latifah's majestic presence, Dakota Fanning's smooth and composed transition from child to teen actor and was impressed with Paul Bettany's performance. This movie is a bittersweet dream. I liked it. The Secret Life of Bees, official movie trailerJun 17, 2009
The Cove, an examination of our oceans and our hearts
THE COVE, directed by Louie Psihoyos, tells the amazing true story of how Psihoyos, O’Barry and an elite team of activists, filmmakers and freedivers embarked on a covert mission to penetrate a hidden cove in Japan, shining light on a dark and deadly secret. The mysteries they uncovered were only the tip of the iceberg.
Find out more: http://www.thecovemovie.com/
Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, The Cove follows a high-tech dive team on a mission to discover the truth about the international dolphin capture trade as practiced in Taiji, Japan. Utilizing state-of-the-art techniques, including hidden microphones and cameras in fake rocks, the team uncovers how this small seaside village serves as a horrifying microcosm of massive ecological crimes happening worldwide.
The Cove exposes not only the tragedy of dolphin slaughtering in Japan, but also the dangerously high levels of mercury in dolphin meat and seafood, the cruelty in capturing dolphins for entertainment, and the depletion of our ocean’s fisheries by worldwide seafood consumption. We also see how the mandate of the International Whaling Commission has been manipulated by the Japanese Fisheries Agency for its benefit and its subsequent effect on the rest of the world.
Find out more: http://www.thecovemovie.com/
Oct 31, 2008
#44 Feel-good Flick for Friday
Today is Halloween and IF we had Halloween in Greece, I would have liked to dress as Kung Fu Panda.
Dreamworks worked their magic again and the movie was great and so funny that my friend, Helen, who is in the hospital liked it so much she watched it twice in a row on her laptop.
Funniest quip with Jack Black's serious tone: "There is no extra charge for awesomeness and attractiveness".
Here is the Kung Fu Panda Music Video
May 23, 2008
A proud TOEFL* moment in our family
Yesterday afternoon I popped a downloaded version of "Juno" in the dvd player and settled myself for an afternoon of finally finding out what all the Oscar fuss was about. Movies from the Internet usually are without subtitles, the user has to find and add them, but I figured since I was about to watch it by myself no one would mind.
Daughter#2 -a great film buff, despite her young age- heard the call of the fox searchlight opening theme in her room and came dashing to the living room. I warned her that there were no subtitles and she might have a hard time discerning the dialogue, but she just waved me off to shut up because the movie was starting.
I was iffy as to whether my kid was getting all of the movie's conversations. And then she surprised the linguistic heck out of me when she laughed aloud at the following line.
I looked suspiciously at Daughter#2 and wondered how in the world she knew what a wiener was... I mean I never remember EVER using that word and I wondered if her frontistirio (English language center) had ever focused on slang words used to replace the word "penis".
I asked if she reeeeeally understood what the father had just said. And she replied affirmatively with an eye roll, still giggling and blushing.
Quite impressed of how far advanced my kid's English was, I paused the film and filled in some linguistic gaps informing her that wiener is also known as hotdog and frankfurter. She kept giggling.
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*TOEFL = Test of English as a Foreign Language
Daughter#2 -a great film buff, despite her young age- heard the call of the fox searchlight opening theme in her room and came dashing to the living room. I warned her that there were no subtitles and she might have a hard time discerning the dialogue, but she just waved me off to shut up because the movie was starting.
I was iffy as to whether my kid was getting all of the movie's conversations. And then she surprised the linguistic heck out of me when she laughed aloud at the following line.
Juno's father on being told by Juno that she is pregnant closes the scene with "Yeah, but if I see that Bleeker kid (aka father of baby) I'm gonna punch him the wiener".
I looked suspiciously at Daughter#2 and wondered how in the world she knew what a wiener was... I mean I never remember EVER using that word and I wondered if her frontistirio (English language center) had ever focused on slang words used to replace the word "penis".
I asked if she reeeeeally understood what the father had just said. And she replied affirmatively with an eye roll, still giggling and blushing.
Quite impressed of how far advanced my kid's English was, I paused the film and filled in some linguistic gaps informing her that wiener is also known as hotdog and frankfurter. She kept giggling.
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*TOEFL = Test of English as a Foreign Language
Apr 6, 2008
Jan 30, 2008
Jan 23, 2008
Jul 5, 2007
May 27, 2007
Ahoy, the Pirates o' the Caribbean be back friends Aye.
Husband, Daughter#2 and I went to see the third and final (?) episode of Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean" yesterday afternoon. The movie theater seated viewers of varying ages, but teenagers admittedly outnumbered the rest of us. The best part of sharing a movie with adolescents -particularly girls who sigh loudly whenever Orlando Bloom graces the screen- is their enthusiasm, the oohs, the aaahs and the excited applause at unexpected moments that adds to the magic of viewing a movie in public.
The film dragged on a bit more than it should have in my humble opinion and everything was predictable. I personally felt no swashbuckling tingles this time around. Husband and I both agreed we felt symptoms of computer effects overdose at some point. The one thing that excelled (again) was Depp's impressive performance as Captain Jack Sparrow. He has established a zany, lovable movie character that will live on in silver screen history. According to Depp, when he was first cast for the part he searched for characteristics he wanted to use for Sparrow. Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones came to mind and in this film it all comes together. Richards also makes a surprise appearance. (NO SPOILERS HERE)
I read a bitter Greek critic somewhere that the last instalment of the Pirates "trilogy" was all about promoting the Disneyland theme ride. Whatever Disney's get-rich scheme is or was, Captain Jack Sparrow swooped us away from reality for a couple of hours. As did another well-known Disneyland theme ride, Indiana Jones. Chill out guys. Some movies are just for the fun of it. Oh, and if their leading men make you swoon... well, that helps too.
Mar 21, 2007
Connecting the dots between today's International Day against racism and the film "300"
Tonight I heard on the news that the film "300" has broken record sales in Greece. 700,000 tickets within a week of its premiere in Greece.
In recent cinematography past, however, Greek movie-goers booed "Alexander the Great" because Alex came off as gay. (!)
They booed "Troy" because the Trojans came off as the good guys. (!!)
They booed "Disney's Hercules" because it was unheard of to make a mythological character as a cartoon. (!!!)
Greeks felt they were getting the short end of the stick from Hollywood.
Then finally "300" arrived: Super-duper depiction of warmongering, nationalistic Sparta that has re-ignited many chauvinist Greeks, accentuating their so-called ancestral illustriousness, that Greeks are descended from a better "species". This re-enforces racial views about other peoples, minorites and nations. Seen from this scope, I find this film's success in Greece quite unnerving, particularly when Greeks like to brag how they're not racist, but events and facts show differently.
Viewing overload of Greek machismo on the big screen with dolby surround, nonetheless has added a boosted swing to Neo-Hellenes' crotch grabbing "yeah, that's right, we're bad, always have been". pa-lease!
p.s. International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
p.p.s. There have been gazillions of TV and radio spots promoting "300", and I wonder, hasn't anyone else noticed that Leonidas has a slight Scottish accent?
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In recent cinematography past, however, Greek movie-goers booed "Alexander the Great" because Alex came off as gay. (!)
They booed "Troy" because the Trojans came off as the good guys. (!!)
They booed "Disney's Hercules" because it was unheard of to make a mythological character as a cartoon. (!!!)
Greeks felt they were getting the short end of the stick from Hollywood.
Then finally "300" arrived: Super-duper depiction of warmongering, nationalistic Sparta that has re-ignited many chauvinist Greeks, accentuating their so-called ancestral illustriousness, that Greeks are descended from a better "species". This re-enforces racial views about other peoples, minorites and nations. Seen from this scope, I find this film's success in Greece quite unnerving, particularly when Greeks like to brag how they're not racist, but events and facts show differently.
Viewing overload of Greek machismo on the big screen with dolby surround, nonetheless has added a boosted swing to Neo-Hellenes' crotch grabbing "yeah, that's right, we're bad, always have been". pa-lease!
p.s. International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
p.p.s. There have been gazillions of TV and radio spots promoting "300", and I wonder, hasn't anyone else noticed that Leonidas has a slight Scottish accent?
.
Jan 31, 2007
Not a good movie month, but saw some great Greek theater
This month was not a good month, movie wise.
I made some really bad DVD choices that I'm too proud to add to my monthly movie memorabilia:
American Dreamz.
I was suckered in by the tag line: "Imagine a country where the President never reads the newspaper, where the government goes to war for all the wrong reasons, and more people vote for a pop idol than their next President."
Unfortunately, the on-screen result was not what I expected and it turned out to be a major disappointment.
Friends With Money.
I was drawn to it because of the female cast and that it had opened the Sundance Film Festival. The story ended too abruptly and I couldn't relate to the storyline, despite the actors' honest efforts.
A Prairie Home Companion.
The least of the three disappointments. It's worth seeing Meryl Streep and the other cast singing (no playbacks), which according to their interviews was mostly done in one take. I tried (really hard) to find the meaning. Maybe I wasn't in a delving mood.
To balance things out, I did take in 2 Greek theater shows that were extremely entertaining.
"The Aunt from Chicago" ("Η Θεία Από το Σικάγο"), the musical version of the very-well known Greek film that the majority of Greeks have seen at least once. Very amusing, and highly reminiscent of a nostalgic Athens struggling to come to terms with the new way of life after a civil war. Excellent directing and acting by all.
Don Camillo ("Δον Καμίλο"), very entertaining satire that pokes fun at politicians and clergy. The protagonist, a naive Italian Catholic priest (hence the name of the play), is coerced by his boss, Mon Signor, and the local politicians to use his popularity in post-war Italian local elections. Very, very funny. I had never seen Yiorgos Partsalakis (the leading man) on stage. Not once throughout the show did I not believe he was Don Camillo. Very impressive.
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I made some really bad DVD choices that I'm too proud to add to my monthly movie memorabilia:
American Dreamz.
I was suckered in by the tag line: "Imagine a country where the President never reads the newspaper, where the government goes to war for all the wrong reasons, and more people vote for a pop idol than their next President."
Unfortunately, the on-screen result was not what I expected and it turned out to be a major disappointment.
Friends With Money.
I was drawn to it because of the female cast and that it had opened the Sundance Film Festival. The story ended too abruptly and I couldn't relate to the storyline, despite the actors' honest efforts.
A Prairie Home Companion.
The least of the three disappointments. It's worth seeing Meryl Streep and the other cast singing (no playbacks), which according to their interviews was mostly done in one take. I tried (really hard) to find the meaning. Maybe I wasn't in a delving mood.
To balance things out, I did take in 2 Greek theater shows that were extremely entertaining.
"The Aunt from Chicago" ("Η Θεία Από το Σικάγο"), the musical version of the very-well known Greek film that the majority of Greeks have seen at least once. Very amusing, and highly reminiscent of a nostalgic Athens struggling to come to terms with the new way of life after a civil war. Excellent directing and acting by all.
Don Camillo ("Δον Καμίλο"), very entertaining satire that pokes fun at politicians and clergy. The protagonist, a naive Italian Catholic priest (hence the name of the play), is coerced by his boss, Mon Signor, and the local politicians to use his popularity in post-war Italian local elections. Very, very funny. I had never seen Yiorgos Partsalakis (the leading man) on stage. Not once throughout the show did I not believe he was Don Camillo. Very impressive..
Jan 17, 2007
Spiderman REALLY loves Mary Jane!
Today, amazingly, the pile of free Metro newspapers weren't gone by the time I got off the train so I picked one up for the ride back in the afternoon. There in the lifestyle section my eye caught this little article that made me go 'awwwwwwwwwww':Raimi [note: director of Superman movies] Oblivious to 'Spider-Man' Romance.
[english link] [greek link]
Call me an incurable romantic and a silly-nilly, but I love it when on-screen romances come to life. Spiderman is my favorite superhero because he sounds feasible (stop rolling your eyes).
Imagine it: Genetically tampered spider bites innocent kid, transmits spider characteristics to human, young male starts spurting webs but retains human (preferably good-looking) features and makes the world a better place. Granted, a messier one with all them webs, but safer nonetheless. Could. Happen.Anyway, I hope those kids are happy together.
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Dec 16, 2006
Casino Royale
I was never a 007 film fan. Partly because of the cheesy effects, uncanny weaponry assists and the over-played lordly, elegant gentleman spy thing. The whole concept just turned me off.
Astoundingly, I've heard and read a lot of good reviews about the new James Bond film which came out in Greek movie theaters a month ago; although I remember reading -a while back- that most people weren't too enthused about the new bloke that had been cast to play the part of 007. Daughter#2 is an action film buff (I honestly have no idea where she picked up on this) and had been hinting about wanting to see the movie. My curiosity finally got the best of me and we saw it today.
Wow.
THIS James Bond FINALLY fits the picture, completes the missing pieces and comes off as a SUBSTANTIAL character, whereas his predecessors just LOOKED like flimsy movie characters. Daniel Craig (and the new 007 flick crew) does a great job of convincing us he IS James Bond. No gadgetry. No hi-tech arm conceptions. No invisible cars. Just raw muscle, lots of pain, action and... ouch!
As an action film goes, the action is dragged out; Bond is poisoned, whacked (e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e), beaten, shot at, slapped, thrown around, bruised and scratched. There are short intermissions with (thankfully) nippy conversations between him and his leading lady leading up to the scenes of Bond/Bond girl chemistry (with an unprecedented romantic twist).
Oddly, THIS Bond shows us a "human side" the viewers weren't accustomed to seeing with the leading men in former 007 films. The weirdness of this plot is that it's sort of a backward sequel; yet the "young", inexperienced Bond is an improvement compared to his "older, wiser self" in previous movies.
The loner rocker ambiance of Chris Cornell's voice in "You Know My Name" suits this new Bond well.
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Oct 6, 2006
Robin Williams as Jon Stewart as Commander-in-Chief movie
I became a Robin Williams fan when I first saw him on the TV series "Mork and Mindy". I've tried to see all his work; his strong suit, of course, is stand-up comedy and he always sends me into fits of laughter, no matter how many times I've seen it. His comedy movies gave me the impression that he couldn't unleash his comedic abyss and I always yearned for a movie with Robin in the form of a cinematic stand-up routine.Today, however, entirely by chance, I came across his new movie advertisement "Man Of The Year". I'm tingling with anticipation. From the looks of the trailer it seems that this will be an all-Williams routine under the guide of Barry Levinson, who's given us great movies. I envy the folks in the US... it's coming out October 13. I have no idea when it will be released in Greece. Hopefully, the wait won't be long. Europeans love political satire (particularly where a US presidency is involved).
I just realized that subconsciously one of the movies Robin Williams starred in may have influenced my blog pseudonym,however I have no affiliation with Disney's Flubber. Really.
Well... except for Flubber's bouncey, roly-poly look.
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Jun 18, 2006
So much for da code
I don't know about you but when I finished reading the "The DaVinci Code" I thought I had just finished reading a movie script. So, a million other readers and I weren't suprised when news came out that the book was being made into a movie. Personally, I was suprised Tom Hanks had been cast for the role of 'Robert Langdon' (the script described the leading man as a Dan Brown look-alike, if memory serves right).
Anyway, last night husband and I saw the movie for two different reasons. Husband, hadn't read the book, wanted to know what all the ruckus about the film is about (Greek church demonstrated outside cinemas on opening night) and I wanted to see how the movie script fared under the direction of Ron Howard.
We gave it a thumb up for Ian McKellen's appearance and I personally liked how Howard managed to intertwine the character's pasts with the present (i.e. Sophie's memories). Hanks was good choice. For those who've read the book no surprises.
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Anyway, last night husband and I saw the movie for two different reasons. Husband, hadn't read the book, wanted to know what all the ruckus about the film is about (Greek church demonstrated outside cinemas on opening night) and I wanted to see how the movie script fared under the direction of Ron Howard.
We gave it a thumb up for Ian McKellen's appearance and I personally liked how Howard managed to intertwine the character's pasts with the present (i.e. Sophie's memories). Hanks was good choice. For those who've read the book no surprises.
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